Scarred
by Crona4
Summary: <html><head></head>Requested by @fandomz redone on iFunny. Belle sees something that triggers a panic attack and it is up to Rumplestiltskin to calm her down.</html>


She approached the hospital with a small smile on her face. She was happy for Snow and Charming and their new son, Prince Neal. They were taking the little munchkin in for a checkup to make sure that Zelena had not hurt him and Belle decided to visit. She had decided that she liked the little munchkin; his cries had no effect on her.

The wind was blowing lightly that day, her hair being swept gently to the side. It wasn't cold enough that she had to wear a jacket, though. Still, the dress she wore had sleeves that draped down to her wrists. Her shoulders were bare even so. The dress was white with beautiful, swirling lace around her collarbone and at the bottom, which reached to her knees. Rumplestiltskin had bought her this dress yesterday, before their marriage. He wanted her to wear it at the ceremony, but suspicion about seeing her in the dress beforehand was what kept her out of it.

She absolutely adored the dress, but she adored the man who gave it to her even more. She loved Rumplestiltskin with all of her heart. He was no monster in her eyes, no matter how much he thought he was. He was simply misunderstood to her, and it was her job to understand him. She wouldn't trade it for any other job in the world. She wasn't planning on falling in love when she agreed to go work for him, but he was just so mysterious and snarky that, despite the fact that those qualities wouldn't appeal to another woman, she fell head over heels.

It was when he had kicked her out that she had truly found time to think about his other qualities, his better qualities. While she was chasing the Yaoguai with Mulan, she couldn't take her mind off of her own Beast, who was so much more than a beast in her eyes. When she had helped Prince Philip back into his true form, having been cursed, it had sparked her love for Rumplestiltskin even more. She wished so badly that she would have been able to find him, that she wouldn't have been caught by Regina. She still could not believe that she'd forgiven the woman.

She hadn't wanted to forgive Regina, but of course, clever Regina had used the Rumple card on Belle, immediately knowing Belle's weakness. That would have only been enough for Belle to tolerate, not forgive her, but the apology that mayor had said seemed so sincere to Belle, she had had no choice but to forgive her.

She walked into the hospital, the clean scent hitting her nose. She glanced around, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She could do this. She had faith in herself. Plus, she really wanted to see Neal again.

The darling baby really made her think about her future with Rumplestiltskin. Of course she would blush and quickly change the topic when Ruby brought up her future with her husband just to tease her; she only liked to discuss it in her own mind or with Rumple himself, though she preferred the former. The first time Ruby had heard about Belle and Rumple being a couple, she was appalled and slightly disturbed, but over time the waitress werewolf had come to terms with the couple and seen them for how in love they truly were.

Belle's mind wandered to earlier that day when Ruby had even suggested that Rumplestiltskin and Belle have children. Their chat had escalated quickly and Belle was rather uncomfortable with the conversation. Then Ruby had reassured her bookworm friend that she was just joking, when in all reality she hadn't been. The librarian didn't need to know that.

Now that Belle was alone in her own thoughts, she found time to actually ponder it. Could she have children with Rumple? Well, of course she _could,_ she just wasn't completely sure she wanted to. _What the heck?_ She thought to herself. _Of course I want to have children with him! Just...not yet. I mean, sure I'd love to mother his children eventually, but for now…for now, I'm not completely ready…_

Plus, there was Rumplestiltskin in there. She didn't think he would even want to have children with her. Her genes were probably no good anyway; she was clumsy. Not only was she a klutz, but she tended to get way too in touch with her books and she had a habit of blocking others out while reading. Scenarios flitted through her head and she winced slightly before taking a deep breath and heading towards the front desk in the hospital to check in as a visitor.

Before she could make it ten feet, though, she stopped dead in her tracks as her gaze set on a nurse. Nurse Flores. She stumbled back a few feet as memories flooded back. Her entire being began to tremble in fear and she was instantaneously lightheaded. She had kept her cool when seeing the nurse in Granny's a while back, but now they were in a hospital, and it was way too like the setting when the woman had scarred Belle.

As Belle's breath shortened almost to the point of hyperventilating she sprinted out of the hospital as fast as her feet could take her. She couldn't do this; she couldn't stand it. She had scars on her skin that she never wanted Rumplestiltskin to see. Of course they'd slept together before, but there was a beautiful thing called concealer, something she'd learned about from Ruby.

Her back was where most of the marks still lay, whippings mostly but also a few rare slices of a knife down her back. Of course she wouldn't have had to endure so much had she told them all she knew about Rumple, but she had been determined not to betray the one she was certain she loved. She had braved the pain, though, the only thing keeping her together the thought of how he could have been waiting for her, wishing she would return almost as much as she was wishing she could be with him.

She had wanted to be strong for him, and so she had been. The scars hadn't been only physical, though. She was mentally and emotionally shattered from spending 28 years in an asylum, trying to figure out who she was and what she had done wrong. When the curse broke, she had had her answer. She was Belle French of Avonlea and what she had done wrong was found love.

Suddenly it was like Belle couldn't breathe; she had tears streaming down her face as she ran anywhere, Storybrooke passing by in a blur. Several people called out to her but their voices were like a distant echo to her. Finally she couldn't run anymore; it was as if an invisible force was choking her. She was lucky, though; Rumple's shop was just a few feet away. She tripped over to the front door but that was when she really had to stop.

She fell to the floor as she slowly relived the torment that had befallen her while in Regina's "care". Of course, it was only a few minutes before Rumplestiltskin noticed and rushed out to help her. Vaguely she was aware of him picking her up and cradling her in his arms as he ran back inside and took her to the back room, concern and pain on his own face. He placed her on the couch and tried to use magic to fix her, but it didn't work for some reason.

"Belle!" He fretted, confused and scared. Her hands launched out and wrapped around his arm. He responded by immediately sitting down next to her and pulling her onto his lap. She hugged his torso tight, squeezing her eyes shut. "Belle, sweetheart, what's wrong!?"

The bookworm suffering from a panic attack couldn't reply yet, though. Instead, she held him tighter than she had ever gripped anyone before, trying to calm herself enough to talk. She buried her face into his chest and sobbed before finally her throat opened just a little so she could get a few indecipherable words out. "Queen!" She gasped. "Evil… Tower… Asylum… Scar… Nurse!"

To Rumplestiltskin, the woman was making no sense, but he still held her close to him and slowly shushed her no matter how much he was freaking out inside. He figured that he could coax an explanation out of her later, after she wasn't panicking anymore. It really bewildered him, though, because she was always so strong. She was always his Brave Little Belle.

It took about twenty minutes before the panic attack reduced to just shuddering and a few random sobs here and there. Whenever she cried before, she had been able to control it the best she could, but this time she was a mess. She was just now able to gather her bearings and cool herself down a little bit.

Another five minutes and she slowly lifted her head, alerting him immediately. He pulled her closer against him, his face portraying all the words that he could not. Belle took a deep, quivering breath as she met his eyes.

"The queen… Back in… Back in the tower… She used to… To whip me and sometimes even cut me…" Belle's voice shook but she tried to maintain it the best she could. Rumple's eyes widened. "I d-don't want you to do anything to her… I forgave her… But I, uh… I saw someone who had tortured me… It kind of triggered something… I'm sorry…"

Belle's face returned to Rumple's chest, this time to hide her embarrassment as she realized how wet he'd made her shirt.

She was more than surprised that Rumplestiltskin didn't flip out immediately. Instead, he hugged her close and whispered in her ear, soft as a feather drifting through the wind, "It's okay now, Belle… I promise you're safe with me…"


End file.
